Philippine worker speaks of Algeria hostage ordeal

Philippine worker speaks of Algeria hostage ordeal

A Philippine worker taken hostage by Islamist militants at an Algerian gas field has spoken about how he escaped from his kidnappers.

Reports say a military operation is still going at the plant, about 100 km from the Algerian and Libyan border. (Credit: Reuters)

A Philippine worker taken hostage by Islamist militants at a remote Algerian gas field has told local television how he escaped from his kidnappers.

Jojo Balmaceda, employed by British oil giant BP, and three fellow Filipino workers were taken at gunpoint as they arrived for work, tied up and thrown into a truck along with Japanese and Malaysian hostages.

Mr Balmaceda said he escaped when the truck was hit by an explosion but sustained a gunshot wound to his head which had affected his hearing, the GMA network reported.

"After that I ran away, fearing that the vehicle would explode. Then I lost consciousness and when I woke up I was already in hospital," Mr Balmaceda said in a brief telephone interview.

"I hope to get on a flight so I would be back home tomorrow," he added.

Mr Balmaceda was interviewed shortly before he was flown to London.

Philippine foreign department spokesman Raul Hernandez did not address AFP queries on Mr Balmaceda specifically and Philippine embassy officials in London were unavailable for comment.

Mr Hernandez says 34 Filipino workers have been evacuated from the gas field, and are now on their way home to the Philippines.

"We have sent a team from our embassy in Tripoli to Algeria to monitor the incident on the ground and assist overseas Filipino workers who may need assistance there," he said.

Mr Hernandez did not say whether there were other Filipino casualties or hostages.

Press reports say that at least two Filipinos were among those killed in the rescue operation.

BP said it had evacuated hundreds of workers from Algeria amid the "serious" hostage crisis.

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